Cafe du Nord

The first stop on the band’s San Francisco-only tour – which consists of six concerts in six nights at six local venues – was Café Du Nord. From there, the itinerary called for stops at the Great American Music Hall (Wednesday), Bimbo’s 365 Club (Thursday), Slim’s (Friday), the Independent (Saturday) and, finally, the legendary Fillmore (Sunday). Continue Reading →

The moment was a bit surreal for Antony Hegarty. He was headlining San Francisco’s Nob Hill Masonic Center on Tuesday night, performing in front of a packed house of some 2,500 fans during the opening concert of the 17th annual Noise Pop Festival, and yet he couldn’t help but think back to his teenage years spent in the Bay Area.

“It’s weird to pull into the city and see Union Square and say, `Oh, I use to beg for money on that corner,” remarked the 37-year-old vocalist, who went to high school in San Jose before leaving to make his mark in New York City.

Hegarty has indeed come a long way. His band, Antony and the Johnsons, has quickly risen to become one of the most acclaimed acts in the music business. The West Sussex native’s second full-length, 2005’s “I Am a Bird Now,” won the prestigious Mercury Prize, given out to the best album by a British artist, and his latest platter, the recently released “The Crying Light,” has received rave reviews.

The group’s Masonic outing definitely lived up to the advance hype. More so, it served to underscore what’s becoming increasingly clear: Hegarty is one of the most important voices to come along in many years.

Performing with a string quartet, full of versatile players that also added electric guitar and saxophone in spots, as well as a bassist and drummer, the androgynous front man showcased his stunning voice for nearly two hours. He’s blessed with an uncommonly light and brittle tenor, one that does not immediately signal the singer’s gender. It’s both reminiscent of many other great singers, such as Andy Bey, Jimmy Scott, Bryan Ferry, Alison Moyet and Nina Simone, and entirely distinctive.

That voice is complemented by unusual musical arrangements, mixing chamber-pop with cabaret, British folk with Broadway, as well as by highly moving lyrics. Those aspects gelled to the greatest extent at the Masonic on “For Today I Am a Boy,” a track from “I Am a Bird Now” that addresses issues of sexual identity for the singer, who identifies himself as transgender.

That was a heavy moment, in a night full of them, but not one without a counterpoint. Balance would be struck, in a big way, when Hegarty pulled out a surprise cover of the R&B smash “Crazy in Love.”

“Beyonce is amazing,” the vocalist said. “I’ve listened to that song a 5 trillion times.”

More Noise Pop
The 17th annual Noise Pop runs through Sunday, offering up dozens of cool bands at various venues throughout San Francisco. Here are our picks for some shows worth checking out. For more information on these gigs, or any other Noise Pop events, check out www.noisepop.com.

Martha Wainwright: Rufus’ sister, and the daughter of folk singers Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle, this Montreal native is blessed with a wondrous voice, one capable of handling everything from folk to country to rock to the Great American Songbook. AA Bondy, Ryan Auffenberg and Karina Denike fill out the bill.
8 tonight, Slim’s, 333 11th St., $12

St. Vincent: The singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist, whose real name is Annie Clark, makes indie art-rock that is often described as “cinematic” and “orchestral.” She is set to share the stage with Cryptacize, Rafter and That Ghost.
8 p.m., Friday, Great American Music Hall, 859 O’Farrell St., $16

Bob Mould: Not what you’d call a hot young act, Mould was the guiding force behind the influential ‘80s band Husker Du. He also captained the great ‘90s outfit Sugar and has managed to put together an interesting solo career. He’s joined by Mark Eitzel, Donovan Quinn and Jason Finazzo.
7:30 p.m., Saturday, Swedish-American Hall, 2170 Market St., $20.

Portugal. The Man: The fuzzy, funky psychedelic-rock band from Wasilla, Alaska (which, by the way, also happens to be Sarah Palin’s home) was one of the best acts that I caught at last year’s South by Southwest music festival. Japanese Motors, Girls, Love is Chemicals and Agent Ribbons are also on the bill.
8 p.m., Saturday, Café du Nord, 2170 Market St., $13

Les Savy Fav: The quintet’s front man, Tim Harrington, is famous for his onstage antics, which have ranged from wearing wild costumes to making orangutan impersonations. It’s a perfect match for the group’s wildly eclectic, and danceable, take on noise-rock. The Mae Shi and the Drums also appear.
8 p.m., Sunday, Mezzanine, 444 Jesse St., $20

Thereâ€™s nothing about Bart Davenportâ€™s Oakland apartment that screams â€œimportant indie-pop artist.â€ Itâ€™s a small, humble abode, located directly above a Chinese restaurant, and the most noticeable thing is the stacks of old LPs.

The 38-year-old East Bay native literally has hundreds of records on display. His love for vinyl, he explains, is something passed down from his dad, who worked at a record store while Davenport was growing up.

â€œHe would get all these promo records,â€ he says. â€œHe never knew that they would become valuable. He just had old 45s lying around _ but boxes and boxes of them.â€Continue Reading →

With Bono focusing his humanitarian efforts on Africa, we should consider ourselves lucky we have our own Irishman to help out in America.

Irish vacationers are now experiencing here the same thing that Americans were when they visited Ireland in the 1980s, said Irish rock band Bell X1 singer Paul Noonan at the bandâ€™s show at Cafe Du Nord in San Francisco Wednesday night (March 25). The thing they have in common is â€œboatloads of money.â€

That comment could have come off as arrogant, but it didnâ€™t because Noonan also made it very clear that he and his bandmates — Dominic Philips, guitarists-pianists David Geraghty and Brian Crosby, and drummer Tim O’Donovan â€“ were fortunate to be able to play in America .

Also, they were good. By the end of the night, they had won over many of the fans, which included indie-rock fans, Irish transplants and several from the silver-hair generation.

â€œItâ€™s our first time here,â€ Noonan said. â€œThis is quite a pleasant surprise.â€

Good thing, since the band is already planning a return trip to the states in late May, Noonan said after the show.

Bell X1 took to the cramped cafe stage to the Darth Vader theme and opened with â€œBad Skin Day,â€ a self-image problem themed ballad off â€œFlock,â€ an album that was released in 2005 in the U.K. but is brand new stateside.

The tune sounded like something from Coldplay, Keane or the Fray. The bandâ€™s originality began to shine with the second number, the jazzy â€œMy Firstborn for a Song,â€ where Noonan, a former drummer, picked up drum sticks and banged away on a tom-tom.

The song also had a catchy Geraghty keyboard riff and was one of several that separated Bell X1 from the aforementioned bands.

Another unique song, â€œAlphabet Soup,” off the bandâ€™s 2003 album â€œMusic in Mouth,â€ came next. With Geraghty playing the banjo, the song began as a rollicking bluegrass tune and at some point turned rock.

Geraghty also had lead singer duties on the funk-flavored â€œTongue,â€ also from â€œMusic in Mouth.â€ It appears Bell X1 has two men capable of fronting the band.

Like Coldplay, Bell X1â€™s arrangements of echo-laden guitars and piano bring the lyrics into focus. The words coming out of Noonanâ€™s mouth were easy to decipher and cleverly witty.

The best received songs of the night were three â€œFlockâ€ tunes: â€œRocky Took a Loverâ€ â€“ about a homeless man who beds a women in an alley; â€œEve, the Apple of My Eyeâ€ â€“ the song that played over an infamous lesbian kiss scene on â€œThe O.C.;â€ and the disco-tinged â€œFlame.â€

On â€œNext to You,â€ another â€œFlockâ€ track, he sang about Irish souvenirs â€œthat come all the way from China.” The last song of the evening, â€œI’ll See Your Heart and I’ll Raise You Mine,â€ is â€œa story about how an angel and the devil got around,â€ Noonan said. He snuck a snippet of David Bowieâ€™s â€œHeroesâ€ into the song.